If you’ve participated as a player or watched as a parent you know that AAU basketball is physical – sometimes excessively physical. If you have played mostly rec and local travel basketball it’s likely that you’ll be surprised – maybe stunned – by the physical nature of girls’ basketball at the high school level. Some of the physicality is due to the higher level of competition as the best of the best middle school players come together on the court. Sadly, some of the physical play is due to poor officiating – officials who feel like “if I call all of the fouls we’ll be here all night”. Of course there is the argument that if you call all of the fouls maybe the players adjust and stop fouling. Sorry, I’m leaking a different agenda. Back to physical play and toughness.

Kids who aren’t used to the physical style are forced to adjust. They are transitioning from a game where everybody played nice and got along (for the most part) to one with a “win at all costs” mentality. It’s a tough adjustment.

You don’t have to be a hacker, you certainly don’t have to, and shouldn’t, hurt people. You do have to accept that you will get bumped, pushed, elbowed and fouled hard. You have to stand your ground. When another player says something to you it probably won’t be “nice shot” or “I like the way you play”. In fact you’ll learn some new words. When grandma asks you, “What did that nice girl, number 22, say to you after you fouled her?” you probably won’t choose to repeat it.

Adjusting to the physical play is really difficult for some kids. From the time they are old enough to understand we teach them to get along, be respectful, work through problems, don’t fight, don’t touch……. They resist their human instincts, trying to please us and do the right thing and then we throw them a curve. Now we tell them, “Yeah do all that nice stuff except when you are on the court. When you are on the court you have to be tough – you can’t let them push you around.”

Some players react to physical play and play angry. If your emotions are out of control or on the edge you won’t play at your best. Playing tough and physical involves remaining calm and focused. Players have to learn to play physical and fairly, within the rules of the game without turning lose the little Tasmanian Devil within. In that regard being tough and physical is really about being mentally tough.

Indiana’s Bobby Knight said, “True toughness is mental toughness. Mental is to physical as 4 is to 1.”

Duke’s Coach K says “   Mental toughness leads to physical toughness.”

You can learn to be tough and physical. It’s a skill. Coaches can create drills that simulate the physical aspects of the game and allow players to get comfortable with the contact. Toughness was a trademark of Voorhees teams in the past. It has to remain a part of who we are.

Our program challenge is to continually evolve and become more mentally tough – becoming a team that bends but won’t break, one that doesn’t shy away from the attempts to intimidate and to play through it. At the same time we can’t be our own opponent. We have to keep working through the tough times, handling feedback that may hurt, developing a next play attitude, bouncing back from poor performances, holding together when forces are trying to pry us apart. With a mix of veteran players and inexperienced players the support needs to run both ways. The veterans need to support the inexperienced players. They need time to learn. There will be times when they are needed to play and contribute. There will be times when they fall short. The young players need to be committed to learning – fast. The veterans will need their support. The veterans can’t do it by themselves. They can’t play every minute of every game. Your mental toughness will be challenged - from both ends.

Former Duke player and ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas wrote a book about toughness. Bilas says it’s more than being physical “It’s an intangible, an attitude, a philosophy.” He feels true toughness is “broken down into specific ingredients such as trust, preparation, courage, communication, self-evaluation, persistence and resilience.”

In the steel business where I work there are some alloys that are incredibly hard but brittle. While they may be strong in some ways they crack and break under stress. Others alloys are more flexible, more dynamic – they can handle more stress. Tough players are not rigid and unbending. They are strong and resilient.

When my daughter, Becky was at Voorhees some of our neighbors came to watch a game. The team was in the middle of a 19 game winning streak and they were curious about the team and girls’ basketball. It was a county tournament game at home. Back then Carmen Cook ran an intense 1-3-1 trapping defense. They were fast and intense defenders and most teams panicked under the pressure. Early in the game Becky and a teammate trapped a guard near the sideline. Becky ripped the ball from the guard hands, dribbled down court, got hammered by the frustrated guard as she went up for the layup. She made the shot, got up and made the foul shot. My neighbor turned to me and said, “I can’t believe that is Becky. She’s so different from the way I know her to be.” And she was – on the court.

Most, if not all of the girls in our program are sweet, polite and respectful. We wouldn’t ask for anything different. But to compete on the court you have to play with an edge. Not a mean or nasty edge but one that says clearly, we are present, here on this court, fully engaged, ready to play and compete. We will battle you for every 50-50 ball. You are not going to push us around, you are not going to out hustle us and to beat us you’ll have to handle our best effort.

We’ll be pushing your kids to be tougher this year. You may hear about it. We’ll practice contact. We’ll call them on it if they shy away from it. We’ll emphasize the need to initiate contact before it is initiated on you. We’ll work on getting stronger and more balanced with the ball so you can fight through the bumping and hand checks. We’ll teach them to anticipate a defender’s reach in and meet it with a firm arm bar. If they really want what they say they want (to be good players on a good team) – they have to put actions to their words. They need to be able to bear down, hang tough and push through.

It won’t hurt them in the end. When they are done with basketball and school the world will have the same expectations of them. They won’t be shocked when that happens, they’ll be prepared.

Bob Peterman